Cellular telephones (or simply cell phones) enable people to communicate in a wireless manner with each other over a variety of distances and within a variety of locales. In particular, cell phones are capable of operation where ever cellular coverage is available.
A conventional cell phone includes, among other things, a voice microphone for receiving audio input from a user, and a speaker for providing audio output to the user. In response to a call, the cell phone typically outputs a ring tone until the cell phone is either (i) answered by the user (e.g., the user opens the cell phone) or (ii) turned off by the user (e.g., the user manually presses a button on the cell phone to shut off the cell phone because the user does not wish to answer the call).
In some settings, a conventional cell phone poses a potential nuisance due to the disruption created by loud speaker output (e.g., a loud ring tone or loud voice output). Accordingly, the operation of conventional cell phones is often prohibited in certain noise-sensitive settings such as public libraries, meeting/presentation areas, and movie theaters to name a few.
For cell phone users to be accommodating in such noise-sensitive locations, cell phone users often turn of their cell phones off completely. As a result, incoming calls do not cause the cell phone to output a ring tone that could potentially interrupt bystanders.
Alternatively, cell phone users can manually set their cell phones to a softer volume setting. As a result, the users may still be able to detect incoming calls and answer them without annoying those in the vicinity.